The Sun Is Going Down
by Mockingjack
Summary: 'Flint Auberon', a fourteen year old boy from District 1, was reaped for the 26th Annual Hunger Games. From his perspective, he has no chance of winning, but he knows he'll have to put up a fight. He is determined to win however, so he can prove his family wrong, that he can bring pride to his district! Are the odds in his favor? Let the games begin!
1. The Reaping

The 26th Annual Hunger Games.

Flint Auberon! I hear my name called as it is read out from the large clear ball. And yet I'm supposed to be grateful? I should be happy that I have just been entered into a televised battle to the death? Outrageous. I've only started training a few years ago! I stand there startled as I look around. Everyone is staring at me. It must be real… but why? This year one of the older tributes was supposed to volunteer. The 17 and 18 year old guys with large muscles that are skilled with almost any weapon and can dominate in an arena. Why are they not volunteering? I'm 14! I'm not ready!

I stand there waiting as my palms begin to sweat. "Flint Auberon? Where are you?" says the District 1 representative. Am I the only one that thinks it's slightly ridiculous to walk around wearing a fluorescent yellow wig with a matching yellow dress? I finally realise that the odds were not in my favour at all as I make my way up to the stage in front of the Justice Building.

I am shown to where I should stand, next to the female tribute. Emerald was her name. She was a tribute that volunteered for the games. I never really knew what her surname was, but I guess that won't matter anymore. She was 18 and she had long blonde hair. Her blue eyes were the colour of a cascading waterfall. Her beautiful lips formed as smile as she waved to the roaring crowd. Now I know why nobody volunteered for me. They wouldn't be able to end the life of this angelic girl. Plus, she is skilled when it comes to using a spear, whether it is for throwing or in combat.

I can just make out the faces of my mother and father. My mom has a blank expression on her face as a tear makes its way down her cheek. Whereas, my father seems overjoyed. I can't make out if it's because I may have the chance to bring pride to our district, or if it's because I will be facing my certain death. I try to ignore it as I am pulled off stage by a tall figure.

It must be my mentor. His name is Dazzle. I don't know his surname either, but I know he is a good mentor. Our districts tributes have been doing so much better after he won and began training. He won a few years back, when I was 7. In the games, he slashed his way to victory by using a large silver sword. When there were only 2 tributes left, it was him and a female tribute from District 4. She had a bow, so it was hard to attack her without being hit first.

The 2 tributes had trouble finding each other in the arena, so the Game Makers sent in a swarm of muttations. They had the form of brightly coloured Butterflies, but they were like Tracker Jackers! They quickly brought the female tribute from 4 to the cornucopia. She was wounded by the mutts, and she was hallucinating. Only minutes after, Dazzle was chased to the cornucopia too! He saw the girl crawling on the ground helplessly. But when she saw him, she got to her feet, and dashed into the greenery. The trees were tall, but thin. They had a sticky sort of moss that gives you a terrible rash when you make contact with it. Several tributes died from just touching it, and even more by clawing themselves to death when scratching it.

Dazzle dashed through the trees, the direction she went, and saw her, tiptoeing about with an arrow loaded. She was still badly injured, and she jumped every few seconds because of her hallucinations. But an arrow would still be fatal. Dazzle had to think fast, so he began silently hacking away at a large tree with his sword. It took only a few seconds, because he had such amazing strength. The girl however, was now right behind Dazzle, wondering what he was doing. She was about to release the string, and let the arrow fly, but something stopped her.

Dazzle jumped out of the way, but his right ankle got caught. He was considered lucky by the entire nation of Panem though, as the female tribute was completely squished by the tree. Dazzle was now the victor. The Capitol gave him a new ankle, and after a couple of months, he was fine.

This was how he became my mentor. Emeralds mentor however, will be a different victor. Probably a girl. Dazzle has short brown hair (just shorter than mine, which is goes down to my eyebrows), and brown eyes. We look quite similar. It is possible that we are related because we lived in the same area of District 1. But now he lives in the Victor's Village, so I'll never know.


	2. The Train

He escorts me into the Justice Building, which is directly behind us. I am shown to a room with red wallpaper and dark wooden floorboards. There are 2 sofas there. I sit on the nearest one, scared of what will happen to me in the arena. This is the part when my friends and family come to say their goodbyes to me before I journey to the Capitol. I sit there and wait. But nothing happens. Nothing. Nobody comes. Not one person likes me? Am I not a likeable person? Is this why my dad was smiling? I reach into my pocket and take out a small wooden bracelet with a gemstone incrusted into it. My tribute token. I leave it down on the sofa as my mentor knocks on the door.

He leads me out of the Justice building, and onto a train. It shouldn't take long to get to the Capitol from here. We are the closest district to the Capitol. It might take an hour at most. We sit down in a small compartment and he begins to talk to me.

Straight away, he begins to talk about strategies and asks me what weapons I am good at using. "It's not certain that you will find the weapon you want at the cornucopia, but I think the Game Makers will consider putting a couple more weapons down if you are good at using them," He says as if to reassure me, "Anyway, you shouldn't have to worry about what weapon you need, because you'll be in the Career alliance." I'm kind of confused because he didn't let me tell him what weapon I am skilled with, but I guess it doesn't matter much yet.

I hadn't thought about that yet. I thought that I'd be in an unusual environment where I would have to fend for myself, but now I am delighted that more people will be helping me out. Maybe saying 'delighted' would be a bad choice of words, as I am about to be in a games where only 1 victor will emerge.

We hear a knock on the door and immediately turn to the sound. In comes a large woman with burn marks across her face. I can easily tell she will be Emerald's mentor. "Dazzle, come in here with your tribute, we're going to watch the Reapings for the other Districts."

Personally, I think this is the most important part before the games. You finally get to see who you are up against. It gives you an impression on how the tributes will be in the arena. Of course, I made a complete fool out of myself at our Reaping. Emerald basically volunteered and then began to entertain the crowd with cheers and waves. She came across Strong and Sly. If I had to bet on anyone at this moment, it would be her.

I stood there for almost 2 minutes, shocked. I was never going to be seen as someone who can win these games. If anything, I'll be an easy target. As we go through the reapings of the other districts, only a few people stand out. The male tribute from district 2 looked strong and vicious, but he volunteered because his sister was reaped. His sister was 15, so she was older than me, but you could tell that the 2 of them had a special bond. The boy looks as if he won't stop at anything to protect his family.

The female tribute from district 3 is the next who stands out. She doesn't any bigger than me, and she is only 13, so she would be an easy target. But that's not what makes her stand out. It's the way that she makes her way up to the stage. She is prancing and skipping and singing a short tune. It's as if she is in a world of her own. She doesn't look scared at all. I wonder if she is really just doing this to hide her pain.

The tributes from 4 don't look any different from the average careers tributes you see every year. Well trained and skilled. The male tribute from district 6 practically ran up to the stage. He is very speedy. I wonder if it is just because he wants this bad experience over with. A girl from District 12 with long blonde hair looks as if she has been crying non-stop even before the reaping. Her crying became 10 times worse when she was reaped.


	3. The Stylists

I begin to realise the chances that I will return to my home are very narrow. But the question is… do I want to go home? None of my family came to see me. Is it because they don't want me? Are they all ashamed of me? I thought at least one person would have visited me… Why didn't any of my friends come? Do I even have any friends? I know I'm not the most popular kid at my school but I know that a lot of people like me…

My thoughts are interrupted when Emerald says, "It doesn't look like there will be much competition this year. But I guess we'll find out when we're training." Her words leave me speechless. I literally can't get my words out. How can she say things like that? She might as well say that killing everyone will be easy this year. Once again, my thoughts are interrupted. Emerald continues to speak.

"Anyway, I'm getting hungry. Is there anything to eat Jade?"

She looks towards her mentor, who replies, "Of course! This train is from the Capitol. We have a whole cart full of food! And you should have as much as you can, because you never know what could be in the arena." Jade lets out a chuckle as she shows us all to the Dining cart.

All I see is food. Pork, Groosling, and much other delicious food that I still don't know the name of. It's not that we don't get fed often, because we do. We are of the only districts that don't have to apply for tesserae. "Dig in!" Says Dazzle eagerly. The food from the Capitol is so much better than the food from the districts. I'm not surprised.

After about 40 minutes or so, an announcement is sent across the train. It tells us that we are arriving at the Capitol. I turn around to see the view outside of the window. Buildings tower over the landscape. Capitol citizens are standing impatiently in the station. Emerald then looks to me and says, "Better do what we came to do then." I smile then as we turn to face the window. I would raise my hand up to wave at the citizens. They let out cheers of excitement at the sight of us.

We are let out of the train after about 5 minutes. Just as we are escorted into a large building, I see the next train pull up. District 2. They let out the tributes almost straight away. I see the boy smile at me. It looks quite sarcastic, but I don't care, I have other things to worry about.

When we enter the building, Emerald and I are put into separate rooms. Our mentors and Trixie – Our representative that read the names at the reaping – are shown to a different room. I think that's where they can watch the chariot rides.

I'm standing on a podium in the room when three ridiculous looking people enter. One of them is quite tall. She has long silver hair covered with rainbow coloured flowers. The others look somewhat similar, but they are a lot shorter and one of them is a boy. "Good Afternoon," chants the tallest, "I am Sophia. This is Hector and Diana. We are your Prep Team!"

Diana smiles, and the boy, Hector adds on, "We always thought that District 1 was destined for greatness." I don't know what it is that they said, but it makes me feel comforted. They wash my hair, and add silver spray stuff to my torso. They take away my clothes and leave me in just my underwear. How embarrassing.

After a few minutes another person walks in. I'm not the tallest person in my family (In fact, I'd say I could be the smallest), but I am about up to his neck. He is a muscular man. His dark hair is slicked back over his head. I recognise him from the past chariot rides I've watched. He must be my stylist. As soon as he sees me, He introduces himself. "I'm Theo. I'm your stylist. The person who has designed your outfits for both the chariot rides, and your interview", he says pretentiously.

He gives me some tight sparkling red trousers. They look ridiculous, but I bet the Capitol will like them. I'm then given a sparkling robe covered with diamonds and rubies. I'm given some silver shoes, and then Theo shows me downstairs. We're in a large room full of horses and chariots. I see Emerald standing against the first chariot. We are wearing relatively the same things, but with slight differences. We see the other tributes coming in as we wait.

District 2 is dressed as a Princess and a Knight. The District 4 tributes costumes look as if they are made from seaweed. District 7 are trees, I feel sorry for them. Nobody would want to sponsor a tree. I think Emerald and I have the best costumes. We are lucky to be a district that creates luxury items.


	4. The Chariots

I think everyone has arrived now because we're told to board our chariots. Emerald looks at me and gestures to calm down. I hadn't realised it yet, but I've been breathing really heavily. I'm glad my district partner isn't stuck up. Just as we are about to ride out in the chariot, Emerald sarcastically says, "If only we could sparkle people to death." The chariot begins to ride, and I struggle to contain my laughter.

I hear sounds of amazement from the crowd. They must really like our costumes. I see people in the crowd taking pictures and cheering. Before I know it, I'm breathily heavily again. I turn to Emerald, who is confidently waving and blowing kisses to the crowd. I look up to the giant TVs and I see our chariot on the first one. I look so nervous. I try to calm down by smiling and cheering but I don't think anything is helping me.

I don't think the crowd has noticed though. I can easily hide my emotions. The Capitol citizens are so naïve. I feel quite confident that I'll get sponsors, but even if I don't, I'm in an alliance. If I don't get sponsors, the others will. There are six of us at least. For some reason I think our mentors have arranged we will all be in an alliance together already.

All the chariots have now formed a semi-circle around President Snow. The last President was assassinated about 10 years after the Hunger Games had started. This new president is young, but he looks almost the same. I think he is his Grandson. A loud tune plays throughout the Capitol; the crowd goes quite. It must be the Panem Anthem. I hear Snow speaking in the background, "…and so it was decreed that the 12 districts of Panem…" I am relieved to know that nobody is focusing on us tributes anymore.

After about five more minutes, we are rode into another large building. All the tributes are together in this room now. For the first time, we are all together. As we get off our chariot, the District 2 tributes make their way over to us, shortly followed by the District 4 tributes. I can tell the boy from 2 is serious about winning, because straight away he tells us his name is Alexander and tells us about strategies and asks us about what weapons we are trained well with.

Emerald replies by saying, "I'm skilled with an axe." Wait a second… did she just say axe? I always thought she was trained with a spear. This is confusing… Was she secretly trained to use an axe to make sure other tributes from our district won't know about her tactics? Emerald continues, "By the way, I'm Emerald and this Flint." The other tributes stand around me and observe me. I'm no way as near the size of any of them. They'd probably mistake me for some other tribute at the cornucopia and 'accidently' slit my throat. I know they probably think that I'm not much, so I quickly jump in and say, "I'm skilled with knives. I can throw from 100 meters away and still hit anyone in their heart." Alexander nods at me as if he is approving me, but he turns away and asks the tributes from 4. "Were both good with spears. I prefer fighting with them in combat and she prefers to throw them" Says the boy. The girl finishes off his sentence, "I'm Angel and that's Murray."

We stand there in silence waiting for Alexander or his sister to tell us what they're good with. I think the girl notices we're waiting so she introduces herself. "I'm Lydia. I'm not really trained in using any particular weapon, but I can set traps, and I'm quite stealthy."

Alexander glares down at his sister. There's something suspicious about him. I'm not sure if I can trust him or not; considering the only thing I know about him is his name. He grabs Lydia by the arm and takes her the other side of the chariots. The mentors and escorts are now entering into the room. I stand next to Emerald and everyone comes rushing over to us. Dazzle gives us a look showing he is already proud of us while Trixie gives a speech of how wonderful we were. I see a woman standing next to Theo. She must be Emeralds stylist. Theo is carrying a sketchbook and I think they are discussing what e should wear at the interviews.

I yawn loudly when Trixie finally stops talking. I've only just realized I'm really drowsy. I've been awake since 6 o'clock this morning because it was the reaping. It's about 11 o'clock now. I've been awake for 17 hours, not to mention the exhaustion of today. Dazzle a must have noticed, because he decides it is time for us to go up to the room we will be staying in for the next few days.

We go up the elevator to the first floor, where we will be staying. The doors slide open, and we enter into the room. The walls are crimson, and the carpet is black. There is one large window on the west wall, which gives a beautiful view of the orange sunset. Trixie shows me my room; the last door on the right. It has the same design as the first room. It has a bed, a sofa, a bathroom and another large window. I lay down on my bed at let my drowsiness take over. I fall into a deep sleep.


	5. The Strategies

"Everyone up! You don't want to be late for your first day!" I hear Trixie chanting up and down the hallway. She sounds like my mom on the first day of school. I quickly get up and step into the Capitol shower. There's so many buttons and switches. It makes me sick how we are only treated well before we have to fight to the death. After a few minutes working out how things work. The water smells like roses; after about 5 minutes, I do too. I step out, dry myself, and go into my room.

Lying on my bed is a black t shirt and some white shorts. It is obviously my outfit for today. The shorts go down to my kneecaps, and the top fits fine. There are also some black trainers. I quickly put them on, and walk out to the dining area. My anxiousness to get over with this as soon as possible overcomes my hunger, so all I have to eat is a slice of toast.

Dazzle and Jade tell me and Emerald that we need to talk to the other careers. Because I am also a lot smaller than Emerald, Dazzle tells me to talk with other tributes to try work out their strategies. Emerald is told not to though, because then the tributes will know something is going on. Whereas, the other tributes might just think that I am not very well trained for the games, and that I'm not a part of the career alliance.

We go down 2 floors, because the training centre is underground. A couple of tributes are there already, but only a few. They stand in a circle around a middle aged woman. She must be an instructor or a supervisor. As well as Emerald and I, both tributes from 4, the boy from 6, and 5 other tributes are here. I stand next to the boy from 6, who is about 15, and a foot taller than me. On the other side of me is Angel.

The last few tributes are now taking their place in the circle. For the first time, I can see that the instructor is holding a large black knife. I'd want one identical to it when I'm in the arena. It may be the only way I'll be able to survive. The instructor begins to speak, "In 2 weeks, 23 of you will be dead. One of you, however, will not. You need to pay attention in here. It will help you a lot in the arena." I stare around at the other tributes. The rest of the careers are smiling confidently, whereas I'm just smiling under pressure. The other tributes look as if they're in the arena already. They look scared to death.

I don't want to look as if I'm not paying attention, because I'm quite sure the instructor will be pretty strict. Instead of looking around, I look slightly to the right of the instructor. I see large square podiums. Their heights are staggered, and there is about a meter gap between them all. The podiums are in a rectangle, with 2 metal arms extending upwards on the ground in the middle. A large iron pole stretches out from the peak of each arm, and by the cogs underneath them, I can tell they are meant to sweep around while tributes are carefully jumping from podium to podium.

A couple of meters behind this small obstacle course, I feast my eyes upon a rack of weapons. Axes, Knives, Swords, Maces, Spears and even some spiked weapons that I've never heard of. In the far corner of the room next to them, is a set of targets. The targets are shaped like human bodies – It makes me sick.

The instructor continues her mind-numbing speech, "If you don't pay attention, you will probably die in the first 24 hours," _Oops, _I think to myself, "However, if you do listen, you can do this…" Within a split second, the woman Whirls herself around 180, lifting her left arm as she spins. She then quickly jolts her arm forward and releases her grip. The narrow black blade travels at least 50 meters through the air, and stabs directly between the eyes of one of the human like targets. She threw it exactly how I'd throw it, but of course I'd throw with my right arm, because it is a lot easier for me. "…So at least try your best."

We are allowed to go off and train now for the next 2 hours, and then we will have lunch. After lunch, I think we have a bit more training, but then we get to go back to our rooms. Emerald looks towards me as she heads over to the other careers, who right now are training at the targets, trying to show that they are fearless. Well, to be honest they probably are. They are all going into a televised fight to the death where only one person will emerge, and the all believe that one will be them. Apart from maybe Alexander, who I think will try to make sure it is Lydia that will emerge as the Victor.

First of all I go to the 'Edible Plants' section. If I'm going to pretend not to be a career, I must look as if I'm learning how to survive. I scan through plant books, looking to see which ones won't kill me. Strawberries – Good. Nightlock – Bad. For the first twenty minutes or so, nobody else comes near here. After a while, I see the District 6 boy staring at me. I smile up at him, and then I signal for him to come over.

He is quite tall, with light blond hair. When he comes over, he has a confused look on his face. "You're from 1 right? Why are you not with the other careers?" I hesitate slightly before I answer back, but I don't think he notices. "No… The others don't understand my full potential." He pauses for a moment before saying, "So, why did you call me over?" I change the subject quickly and say, "I saw you at the reaping… Your pretty fast… Why exactly did you run up to the stage?"

He looks to me confused, but then I think he realises that there's no harm in saying, "Well, I think that the reaping is very important. By running up to the stage, I was showing that I was quite speedy. If I'm showing my skills from the start, I think I might get sponsors fast, and I might have a good chance of winning"

To be honest, I'm quite impressed. I've never seen this strategy used before, and I know that it was well thought out. Now that I know his strategy, I need to think of a way to walk away. In fact, I don't really care what anyone thinks of me, because in 2 weeks one of us will be dead. But I guess that would kind of ruin Dazzle's plan. So I decide just to stay and flick through the plant books for a while.


	6. The Obstacle Course

After a while, we are all told to go to lunch. The rest of the careers sit on a table all together, but I need to sit on my own. I sit on the nearest table to them however, so that tomorrow they won't have to fill me in on much. Alexander doesn't speak at all. I saw him about half an hour ago. He could throw a large weight and hit a dummy from quite far away. Just aiming on its own is hard enough, but he can even hit where he wants when dealing with heavy objects.

For lunch we all have a couple of sandwiches and some fizzy drink I don't know the name of. The food doesn't taste very good, but I can't complain, there won't be much food when the games begin. Instead of talking strategies, the other careers just joke around. Most of the other tributes sit on their own, apart from the two from 11. They sit next to each other, stuffing the food down their throats. You can easily tell they don't get much food in their district.

When lunch is over, I decide to walk around the training centre looking for others to survey. It doesn't look like there is much competition this year. Most of the tributes are clearly trying to do their best at different sections, but none of them are succeeding. Still, taking out the entire career pack when we've all split up will require a lot of stealth.

Besides the other careers, I think the only competition so far it the boy from 6. I walk past the camouflage section, the only one there is the girl from 3. Instead of training like all the other tributes, she is just drawing pictures of flowers and rainbows. I decide to just walk past her, because I really don't know if she is okay.

I decide to go to the rope tying section, where the female tribute from 11 is. I ask her about how she is taking in the events over the past day, but she only shrugs her shoulders and continues tying knots. I grab a rope myself and then talk to the instructor of this section. After about 15 minutes I can tie a great lasso! The girl hasn't said a thing since I've arrived. It doesn't take me that long to figure out that she is trying to appear mediocre and not give anything away. I bet she has some great skills that will probably help her out a lot in the games.

I decide to leave this section now, because there is clearly nothing to find out. I decide to go to the large obstacle course I was looking at earlier. There isn't a queue anymore, because all the other tributes have either tried and failed, or won't dare go near it. The instructor begins speaking to me, "You only have to go around once, but it is very difficult. There are exactly 20 podiums, but there is a time limit. You need to finish in 1 minute and 30 seconds or less. Good luck!"

I see the other careers looking at me as he starts the stopwatch. Considering none of them made it across, they'd be pretty impressed if I did. I quickly run up a step to the first podium, and jump the meter gap to the next one. I stumble a little as I land, but I easily jump down to the next. The first arm is coming now from behind me; I need to think fast. I need to get to a higher podium, or else I'll never get over it.

I quickly jump for the 4th podium, which is luckily the highest one. I grab the opposite end with my hands, and I'm dangling of the podium. With the help of my arms, I drag myself up onto the podium. The arm catches my leg as it rotates. Luckily, it only trips me backwards, and I land on my back on the same podium. I speedily get to my feet and step down to the 5th podium. I leap onto the next podium, and land on both feet.

I turn right, onto the next line of platforms. I easily get across the next few, but then the metallic pole sweeps behind me. I jump over it quickly, and land on my feet. I've realised now that a lot of the tributes are staring at me. I dash across the next couple, and turn around, to the next row of podiums. I easily zoom across the 5 platforms, just in time to jump over the sweeper. The last 5 await me now.

I think almost all the tributes are watching now; even some of the instructors! I jump to the 16th podium but my foot catches on the edge. I think I'm going to fall off, but I stumble down onto the next podium. Only 3 more to go. I open out my hands, realising I am sweating. The metal rod is nearing me now, but I know I can make it to the end! I jump up to the high platform, and then down to the next. Yes! I know I've done it know! Only one more jump to go! But just I am down on the second to last podium, I feel my feet slipping. No! Not now! I am only using my arms as support now, as I dangle from the platform.

The beam is jump centimetres away now; I'll never get over it… Wait! I don't have to get over it if I go under it! Within a matter of seconds, I duck my head down. Just in time as well, because I feel the rod brushing across my hair. '_Phew!'_ I think to myself. I pull myself up onto the podium, and jump to the final podium. I've done it! I step down onto the floor and up to the instructor. I see the other careers smiling at me. But of course, I don't know if I've succeeded yet, because I had to do it in less than 1 minute and 30 seconds.

The instructor says, "Well done! You've done it in 1 minute and…" I see him smile slightly as he says, "29 seconds! Congratulations!" I feel amazed. I'm the only one that completed the obstacle course without falling once, and I was even under the time limit. I look at Alexander, and his face is full of envy. I try to ignore him though when we're told to go up to our rooms.


	7. The Competition

"I'm exhausted, I'm going to bed as soon as possible tonight" Says Emerald tiredly. I'm not surprised about this, she's been throwing axes around non-stop (apart from when she attempted the obstacle course with the platforms, where she only got about 12 podiums across) for hours. I'm still surprised I was the only tribute that succeeded the course.

"Well, let's all have dinner first," Jade says cheerfully, "Plus, Flint can tell us what he found out." She phrased it like a suggestion instead of a statement, so I nod and we sit at the table. A male avox with short blond hair lays down plates with the food on, while a female avox with scars over her face lays down drinks, knives, forks, and napkins. Steak and chips lay on the plates, as well as some peas. Most families in the districts would never see a meal like this in their lifetime. The capitol is so luxurious.

The avoxes stand in the corner of the room whilst we begin chatting and eating. They look so much alike. The same sandy hair colour, the same eyes. Maybe they are related. I wonder what they did to become avoxes… The scars on her face suggest she got into some sort of battle. Now that I'm actually focusing on them, I can see the boy it standing awkwardly. When Trixie calls him over to the table, I see he is limping. He must have some sort of prosthetic leg. I don't really want to know what happened to either of them, so I try to drown my thoughts in the refreshing bubbly drink that is provided.

"So," Says Dazzle, "What did you find out?" Everyone is looking at me impatiently, but I realised, and I say, "Well, I don't think there is much 'competition' this year… The boy from 6, and both from 11 are the only interesting tributes. The boy from 6 is trying to showcase his talents even before the games to get sponsors and the tributes from 11 are appearing mediocre, so that no one knows there true talents. I think everyone else will just try their best."

Jade is quick to reply by asking, "And do you two have any strategies? Of course if you don't need to share anything if you don't want." Me and Emerald exchange looks, but she shrugs and says, but through this whole day of using an axe, I think I may be more deadly with one." Jade jumps into the competition once again.

"What do you want the arena to be like?" She says. I haven't really thought about the arena. The past few years have been quite 'boring'. For the 24th games, the arena was underwater. It was hard for other tributes to attack each other, and most tributes ran out of oxygen. They all had no choice to go to the cornucopia, but only 4 tributes died, the rest gained cans of oxygen and a mask. Within one day, the tributes died. The 25th games were a quarter quell, so each district chose the 2 tributes they thought would be most likely to win the games. You thought the arena would be something special, but it was just a network of caves. It was almost pitch black for most of the time, so tributes had difficulty finding each other. The victor only won because he fell into a giant puddle, covering his scent, and the bat muttations that were sent into the arena couldn't track him down.

"As long as there is a lot of concealment, I'll be fine," I say, "Trees, mountains… anything really." Emerald nods in agreement.

"I guess that's really all you can hope for," says Dazzle. As if just noticing the time, Trixie jumps up. "We better be going to bed now. Or else we'll never get up in the morning!" She Exclaims, "Quick, Quick!" We are hurried into our rooms, and I fall asleep within 5 minuites.


	8. The Training Center

"Rise and Shine!", Trixie chants at the top of her voice, "Today they will test you both on you skills to determine your training scores!" I drag myself from the bed. Back in district one i would have no problem waking up, but the beds here in the Capitol are so luxurious.

Immediately after breakfast, me and Emerald head down to the training center. They will start testing us after lunch, which is at 12:00 on the dot. This means I will have about 3 hours of training to do. I'm excited to see what I- Wait... I'm excited? Urgh, the capitol is turning me into someone of their own... Someone who will not hesitate to brutally murder someone else in the arena.

As soon as the elevator arrives down in the training center, i see we are actually the frist ones here. I'm not that surprised, its still quite early. We only have a couple of hours so i decide to head straight for the knives. Emerald goes for an axe, which is about as large as my forearm. A range of targets are set up along the far wall. The distance between us and the targets is about the size of a large house.

"First one to hit the target wins!", Emerald shouts, letting her axe fly. I don't wait a second to watch when i see it lodge into the wall, only few inches above the target. The first knife i throw is only a couple of inches large, and its handle is even bigger than its blade. It hits the bottom of the target, but it bounces off of it and sends a 'clang-y' sound as it connects to the floor. Emerald laughs a bit, as if shocked, but i continue anyway. This time I pick the larger knife. But i misjudge its weigh and it lands on the ground before it could even reach the target.

Emerald throws another axe, which hits the center of the target, on its handle. I give a smirk of relief as it moves off of the target, but it continues to spin and the blade lodges into it. Emerald gives a cheer to herself and starts singing playful victory chant. Its kinda funny really.

Over the next few hours, the rest of the tributes have joined us. I'm training along with the other careers today, but i can't help looking around at what the others are doing. The boy from 6 has obviously noticed as he sends me 'disappointed' looks when i see him.

Emerald is the first to go into the training center. We're still eating our lunch, but the gamemakers obviously must have a tight schedule. It's kind of awkward sitting with the other careers on my own without her. I don't know much about them... for all i know they could be pointing out my weaknesses, plotting how they will kill me in the arena, unless another one of them kills me first.

We talk about the games, What we want the arena to be like, what interesting twists they may play. It's only a matter of time before Emerald comes out of the test room, which means i have minutes before going in. I ask her if she things it went well. She nods and smiles. She obviously has more to say but i don't have time, as i am called in immeidiately.

The room is long and narrow. It has black walls and a black ceiling. One of the walls however is plain glass which is where the gamemakers sit behind. They where Plain white lab coats which make them all look so similar, apart from a short woman wearing a purple dress and a black waistcoat, the head gamemaker.

I see the weapons and supplies arranged against the walls. I start toward the knives but... I'll need to get them to hit right on target. If not, the highest i could possibly get is an 8, and thats if i'm lucky. I'll need to do something incredible... something daring. I could always throuw the knives the entire length of the room, but just as i did in the training center, i probably wouldn't be able to hit the target directly.

I doubt i could get a very high score showing which plants and animals are poisonous and which are not... 1 - because the highest possible score i've heard of that did that was a 5. And 2- because i didn't really pay attention at the stage... I may have been there a long time but i only was able to identify one or two poisonous plants. In the arena i will mostly rely on the food held at the cornocopia to live.

Instead i head toward a rope. Knot tying seemed to come to me pretty fast yesterday in the training center. I fashion lasso out of it and face toward a human-shaped mannequin on the opposite side of the room. I turn to the left examining the gamemakers. Them seem to be a little starled. I hear them whispering several different remarks, "...and this boy is supposed to be a career?" " This is unusual" "He may be a career but he's district 10 at heart"... I ignore the comments and face towards the target.

I swing the rope in the air a few times before sending it out towards the dummy. The lasso wraps around it's neck. As i pull on it, the knot tightens and the dummy falls to the ground. It may be interesting and quite astonishing really, but I realise my faults now. How could this possibly kill someone in the arena? How could this be the single most important aspect of protecting myself when someone, such as the large Alexander, comes after me with a knife.

I release the rope as soon as i notice this and grab the first knife my finger can find. _Ding!_ A chime is sent through the room signally my time is over. I've wrecked it. Possibly the most important part of the pre-games and i've wrecked it. I'd be lucky to get maybe even a 3 or 4 in my training score now. A low score means less sponsors. Less Sponsors means less supplies. And less supplies means less life. It may sound a bit extreme, but it's true. I've wrecked it.


	9. The Training Scores

It's about 8:00 now in the Capitol. The training scores should be displayed across the nation of Panem soon, and i can only hope for the best. The rest of our training day was spent just talking to the others in our alliance. According to everyone they each think they did quite well. All i could do when I was ask was smile or nod. Come to think of it... Emerald did the same thing when i asked her... Maybe we're in the same position.

A capitol talkshow host tends to host events such like these. This year it seems to be a man called 'Thaddeus Capital'. The names these people come up with... Although, I see Trixie is enjoying it as she almost screams with excitement. "Oooh! I doubt anyone else is looking forward to this as much as I am! Eeeeeee!" She practically screeches.

The 1st tribute appears up on the screen, Emerald. And her score appears in roman numerals in the bottom right corner of the screen. X. 10. Obiously i thought wrong, and Emerald obviously did know what she was doing. I should be proud for her, congradulate her as i here the others doing. But i'm to tense watching the screen as my face appears.

III. 3. I feel my stomach twist as the number on the screen is read out by Thaddeus. What once was cheerful happiness in this room is now shock. Dissapointment. Pity. Emerald gives me a reassuring look before Dazzle grips me on the shoulder. "Can i see you in the other room for a second?" He speaks in a calm low voice, lower than usual. I join him, whereas i'd rather just sit in my room for the rest of the night.

Dazzle shuts the door just before his words come out, "What did you do? What were you thinking?" I can tell he is trying not to be annoyed, "You said you have been training in throwing knives, how long for? Did you try to show them your agility or something?" I don't answer i just look down at my feet. Like a child. Ashamed. "Well?" He requests.

"I tried the knots. I made a lasso out of the rope." I pause, stuttering in my nervousness. "I threw it and it wrapped around the target. I-I only then realised what this would do, and how it wouldn't really help towards my survival in the arena."

Dazzle is silent. He doesn't reply. We just make our way out of the room and i go into my bedroom. I'm awake in my bed for as long as i can think. I only do get to sleep once Theo, Dazzle and Trixie have stopped talking outside.


	10. The Interview

For the past hour or so i have been sitting at the breakfast table picking over some 'Super Fun!' capitol cereal. It's awkward sitting here, Dazzle and Jade are on the sofa, which is behind me, and Emerald is chatting to her stylist who is on the opposite side of the table. I've managed to get through this long with just awkward eye contact and strange facial expressions in my direction. Hopefully it will stay like this for the rest of the day.

Dazzle walks over and sits on the stool next to me. "You know you've got to come out of you shell sometime..." he says as if everything is fine. I didn't bother to stay to see the rest of the scores before i left. "Be out here again at 12:00 and we'll begin to prepare for your interview".

12:00 arrives and i am back in the lounge. I can't see Dazzle so i decide to wait for a while. 10, 20, 30... the minutes go past and he is still nowhere to be seen. When Dazzle does finally burst in, he is carrying a box of disks. "Well, we have to get you out of this mood somehow don't we?" He says, laughing, "I was in a very similar position to him when he was in the games.

On the first dvd, it shows Thaddeus showing his training score. He only received a 4. He explains how in his training trial he showed his skills when it comes to camoflage. He did a pretty impressive job, but he only covered himself in a layer of mud, so it wasn't much to be proud of.

He then shows the highlights of his games. Because of his score, the other careers were not too keen on allowing him into the alliance, but after they realised they could kill him if he got out of line they seemed to let him in anyway.

Towards the end of the games, camoflage was really he saviour. There may only have been 4 tributes left (including himself), but he was badly injured. The other careers had thought it was time to 'dispand' their alliance, so in the night the girl from 4 cut her district partner's throat, and Dazzle woke up just in time to get away, but he got an arrow in his left calf, which made him struggle when manouvering through the trees.

The covered himself in his layer of mud, and that got him away from the careers from 2. I didn't really expect it to, but these video's really have helped me recover from yesterdays actions. We have about 2 hours before the interviews so Dazzle and Trixie will be working with me. Emerald will probably be with Jade, and her stylist. Theo however will be somewhere designing my outfit for the interview.

Trixie wants me to look innocent, even though i'm a career, but Dazzle knows that won't work. Instead, he wants me to appear as a typical career. Vicious, Strong and ready-to-go. I honestly myself don't think it is working, but Dazzle and Trixie are reassuring.

I can tell what they'll talk about in the interview... the usual subjects: The reaping, The training score, What our stratagies will be, what we do back in or home districts. I feel quite nervous but i know the best i could do at this point is just suck it up and go to the interview.

'Luckily' for me, my interview will be first. It would be nice to have more time to prepare, but i guess i'll have to get it over with. We are lined up in the waiting room while Thaddeus introduces 'The Thaddeus Show!'. Theo has designed a navy blue suit, with a sky blue shirt underneath. He pats me on the back as it's my turn to enter the stage.

"Now, Give it up for our first tribute from district 1... Flint!", I hear from the stage. To my surprise, when i walk out the crowd is going wild. What did i do that is making them so happy? Was is the chariot ride? That is pretty much the only public event that i think has gone well.

I shake hands with Thaddeus and then take a seat in what looks like a throne. He sits on a similar chair next to mine any he begins to smile as the audience's applause begins to fade away. "So, Flint, what are your strategies in the arena?" He asks me.

"Well, I erm..." I don't really want to give much away so i just tell him the basics, "As usual my district, district 2 and district 4 will create an alliance. I think thats all i can say for now."

"Interesting, now, the arena, what are you looking forward to? Do you suspect anything new?"

"All i can really hope for is that there isn't a possible death around every corner..."

I can here the capitol audience laugh and cheer a bit.

"So, tell me Flint, how old are you?" He asks. "14." I reply, he seems shocked.

"Only 14? We haven't had a career of that age for a couple of years... Most of the kids from your district are usually 17 or 18, what makes you feel like you could win?" Thaddeus replies, staring at me, his eyes like a hawks, surveying my thoughts.

Before i could even think or remember my strategy i say in a clear voice to Thaddeus, "I don't." The audience seems shocked, i can tell by there whispers and their gasps. "


	11. The Launch

When we get back to the training center building, i go straight up to bed. I know skipping dinner may not be the best thing that i could do before the games, but at least i'll get a snack for breakfast in the morning. As i drift off to sleep, i look out the window to see the sun set.

When i wake up there are clothes laying on the table next to the bed. The tribute uniforms. A dark brown t-shirt with a red jacket laying next to it. The jacket has several pockets on the inside for weapons, water containers and other supplies. The trousers look a dark green colour and they are quite tight. A pair of russet brown walking boots lay on the floor.

After i shower, i put the clothes on. I feel something in one of the jacket pockets, but when i reach inside, it's the last thing i needed. A small wooden bracelet with jewels encrusted into the sides. My district token. The one i left at the justice building. I wonder who retrieved it. Instead of asking myself questions about it, I put it back into it's pocket and walk out into the lounge. Emerald is the only other person there. "Trixie said to have some breakfast and to drink a lot of water. I smear some jam on toast and have a glass of water. She obviously knows best, she's been doing this for almost 15 years now.

"So... what are we supposed to do know?" I say.

"Wait." Emerald replies, her voice sounds croak-y as if she has been crying for a while. She must not be as ready for the games as she thought she was. I'm not surprised, this game is quite literally a death sentence. Only 1 out of the 24 of us will come out. Emerald give me a hug as if to say good luck, i'm about to actually say it to her but Theo, Trixie and another lady (that must be Emerald's stylist) burst into the room.

"Quick, quick, quick!" Trixie starts chanting, "We need to get you two to the hovercraft! It will take you to your launch pads. Oooh Isn't this exciting!" A tear of happiness rolls down her cheek, but she quickly wipes it way.

The hovercraft lasts for about 40 minuites i think. They let us out of the hovercraft after we recieve our tracker, and Theo is there waiting. He got a seperate hovercraft. He takes me to our launch room, and Emerald goes in the completely opposite direction with her stylist. She must be on the other side of the cornucopia.

To think that the place of my probable death is right above me sends a shiver down my spine. Theo gives me another glass of water and i finish it just before a voice runs through the room. 30 seconds. I move over to the launch pad. 20 seconds. I look out through the glass and watch Theo, he gives a reassuring nod. 10 seconds. I feel my stomach twist as the glass doors seal behind me. The tube begins to rise up into the arena, and I hold my hand above my eyes to sheild the blinding light of the sky.


	12. The Bloodbath

After several seconds, my eyes adjust to the light, revealing a blazing orange sky. The cornucopia stands infront of me - about 30 yards away - on a field of wildflowers. behind me, and in all other directions are tree's, ranging in size. Their branches are quite low, which will make it hard to escape the bloodbath. A ring of mountains surrond the arena from what I can see.

Before i can even take it all in there are only 40 seconds left. To my right is a male tribute, from 12 i think. He looks quite tall and has ashen blond hair. To my left is Alexander. He looks at me with a 'don't-mess-with-me' expression. Hopefully he'll lighten up nearer the end of the games. I wonder if i'll still be alive. I'm guessing Emerald is on the exact opposite side of the Arena, i can't see her anywhere.

I reach into my pocket finding my token. I want to embrace it for luck but... I don't think it can bring me luck anymore. In the mouth of the cornucopia i can see weapons, however anywhere else i can only see supplies. To run to the middle is so tempting. I may as well run towards it as fast as i can, because i know if i don't, i will have nothing. I will die anyway, so i know at least trying can't hurt.

There are 20 seconds left. I feel the gemstones on the bracklet in my hands. I wish i could have left it behind. I wish it had never of been found. I wish it could descintegrate in my palm. 10 seconds. And before i can even notice, My arm is stretched out to my right, the bracelet flying through the air. It lands on the ground nothing short than a meter away from the male tribute from 12. It doesn't take much force to set of the land mines, and the tribute has been destroyed. Along with my token. The game has begun, even before the Capitol intended it to.

"May the 26th Annual Hunger Games Begin!", I shout teasingly. I know the Capitol will love it. And just as i finish my words, a gong sounds through the arena. I thrust myself off of the pedestal before i can even look at any of the other tributes. A cannot waste a second; if i do, my time will surely be up - So i scoop up an orange backpack and head for the mouth of the cornucopia.

When i eventually reach it, i'm the only tribute there. Was everyone too startled by my actions to react to the gong in time? Or do i not even myself know my true potential? I grab a set of knives, and slide them inside the small weapon holders inside my jacket, keeping a knife in each had, incase i am pursued by another tribute. From what i can see, all of the weapons are jet black. I decide to slide one of the knives back into it's pocket inside my jacket and grab what looks to be a circular gladiator-like sheild. I sling a rope over my shoulder as i leave the mouth. I have only just noticed that Alexander is next to me with a flail and another sheild. And when i turn around i see a girl on the floor, with a spear pointed in my direction. I am frozen with fear until i notice the spikes imprinted in the back of her skull. I turn to see Alexander, who has gather several supplies. He nods at me and says, "You better watch you back."

I didn't even notice her come in, i better get out of the cornucopia before more tributes arrive. When i exit, i see at least 3 bodies on the floor (either they are dead or they are close to dying because none of them are moving. Emerald and Angel are just reaching the mouth of the cornucopia, and i can see Murray in the distance strangling another guy on the ground with his bare hands.

It seems like most of the tributes have dashed away from the cornucopia, or gone for supplies that are closer to them. Barely anyone has came nearer the mouth. But they are still fighting. Whether it is with their fists or hitting eachother over the heads with the heavier backpacks. About 9 tributes are still here. I run forward to a girl who is carrying a black bag, and swing my knife (Well, i guess it could be classed as a short sword as it is the biggest knife of the collection i gathered). The girl ducks down and sends her foot towards my leg. Before i can react, i am falling down onto the girl. I hold my sheild down to quite literally sheild my fall. When i get up, there is a blood covering the girl. i look at my sheild and her blood covers it too. Only then do i realise the small spike pointing out of the sheild.

Even when making defense supplies, the Capitol decides to turn them into somewhat of a weapon. I admire them for this, but i quickly shake that out of my head when i feel a hand on my shoulder. It is pale and quite boney, it could only belong to one person. When i turn i see him. The boy from 6. I never found out his name. In the corner of my eye i can see Emerald, who is looking at us both. I don't want to, i really don't want to. But i know it is my only choice. I reach out my knife, and he obviously can see what i'm doing. He dives to the left and my knife slices him across the arm. It will hurt, but it won't kill him unless it becomes infected. Before i could do any more he dashes off into the trees.

Not much tributes remain. When i walk back up to the cornucopia, i see more dead tributes on the ground. The only one i can recognise is the girl from 3, who lays on the ground holding a bouquet of flowers. She probably wouldn't have made it very far even if she was still alive anyway.

The remainder of the tributes are dissapearing into the colourful trees. It is beautiful really. The orange sky. The grey and white mountains. The trees are a vareity of colours, as well as the flowers. But i'm brought back to reality by the cannon. 1, 2, 3... I know one of these cannons belonged to the boy from 12, i can't help but feel a little bit guilty, he didn't even get a chance... 4, 5, 6, 7, 8... The cannons stop. 8 tributes. 15 to go.

8 tributes isn't a low number, but it isn't a higher number either. The number of deaths is about average. From what i can remember, 15 tributes has been the highest amount of deaths in a bloodbath and the lowest is about 4. The other career's are looking over their supplies or gathering weapons from the fallen tributes before the hovercrafts arrive. I sit next to Murray and Emerald. Everyone seems satisfied so far. I guess i should be too.

Before i can even begin to look through my rushsack, a silver parachute floats down above us. It land on the ground before us and the number '1' is engraved on it infront of the capitol seal. Me and Emerald open it, revealing a large pot full of stew. It smells delicious, so we gather small pots from around the cornucopia and all dig in while it's still hot. It's delicious! I'm quite surprised actually... You'd think that the Sponsors would only send a small amount of food and save the money for more valuable items. Such as sleeping bags or even weapons!

"We should stay here. But just for tonight," Interupts Alexander, "We'll hunt tomorrow." None of us disagree, so we make a campfire and stools to sit on out of the crates inside the cornucopia. Nothing could have gone better really. I decide to enjoy myself while i'm in here, i know i won't make it out alive.


	13. The First Night

After what I have judged to be about 2 hours, I decide to look through my rucksack. There is quite a few useful supplies inside: A Water Bottle (Empty... trust my luck), Leather gloves (These will be useful when manouvering through the tree's and up the mountains), a bag of small red berries (at least I can remember that these berries are not poisonous), A small knife ('Small' is an overstatement, The handle is about the size of a fingernail, and the blade is even smaller... The best way it could be used may be to sharpen a treebranch or a rock), a fire-starting kit (quite self-explanitory), a bottle of a clear liquid marker 'WATER PURIFIER', and a slingshot (this probably won't be that useful, but I guess it could come in handy at some point). I decide against putting the rope in the bag, I may need it at some point.

I gave Emerald the sheild earlier, she'll probably have more use for it as she will be fighting up close with others whereas i will be fighting from a distance. Lydia and Alexander are talking quietly to each other on the other side of the cornucopia. Lydia has chosen a pair of tiger claws as her weapon. They are quite rare to find in these games but I guess the gamemakers made an exception, she probably showed them her skills when she was in her private session. I heard she got a '9'.

Alexander and Lydia come around the corner of the cornucopia and join the rest of us around the fire.

"We need to split up for about 10 minutes," Alexander says, "There's no water in the cornucopia." I realised there was none in my pack but, there must have been some somewhere... I'm not sure if I trust him... he's probably going to ditch the rest of us and him and Lydia will run out into the woods... But then again, he doesn't seem like the kind of person who would run off in secret. If he was going to betray us so soon, he would probably slit our throats, saving the hassle of needing to move through all the trees...

"Ok, Murray, Lydia, you come this way with me," Emerald insists, "Alex, Flint and Angel you go in the opposite direction."

Perfect. This way if the two of them were going to run off, they can't, because there in different places. It's a great idea, but i don't really think being alone with Alex in the arena is a good idea, even if Angel is here too... I guess i can't go against it though.

Angel, Alex and I move to the left of the cornucopia and the others move to the right. Alex and Angel find it more difficult to manouver through the tree's, but luckily for me i'm smaller than both of them, so it doesn't take me half as long to get through them. Ok, i guess the gloves give me an andvantage too, the branches are covered in thorns. They won't do much harm at all, but they're pretty painful. I can tell by Angel's wincing.

"That was quite a smart move back there..." Alexander smirks, "Don't think i've seen that in any of the past games."

His voice sounds quite... Happy? No... but, friendly... I can't tell why though. Is he trying to seem more friendly to get more sponsor gifts? Or simply trying to catch me off guard so he can punch me in the neck..? I don't really know what to say... "I guess it was just the adrenaline..." I reply. It'll do, they seems impressed.

"Hey! Hey guys! Look! Over there!" Angel says enthisiastically. She points directly infront of us. I can't see it at first because of all the foliage. What could she be so enthusiastic about seeing? Water? Another Tribute? Sponsor gifts? When i step further into the bushes i can see it's all of the above. A pool of water about 20-30 feet wide. Resting on the surface of the water is a small parachute marked with the number '11' and next to it, on the other side of the river, not just one, but both of the tributes from 11. I don't think they've noticed us yet, because the boy dives into the pond to retrieve the gift.

"There yours if you want 'em" Whispers Alexander to Angel. She seem's eager, she tiptoe's through the wildflowers quitely, spear in hand, ready to throw. The boy stands up in the middle of the pond the parachute in his hands. "Bread. District 11 bread. What better meal to end the day with?" He shouts over to his partner. He closes the parachute and begins back over to the girl. He makes it about 3 steps back through the water before he hears the screams of his partner. He has no time to even turn and notice what she has saw before the spear enters his back.

He collapses into the water. The sound of cannonfire blasts through the arena. The girl is on her feet, she grabs a small green sack, but half of the stuff falls out. All she has time to pick up is a small box and what looks like a blowgun. Angel throws her next spear but the girl is already dashing out through the tree's.

By now Alex and I have came out into the clearing. "Leave her... She won't make it much longer without food or water..." Alex says gesturing over to the food that has fell from her bag. I dive through the water to retrieve the parachute and Angel's spear. When i toss it the spear back i shout mockingly, "District 11 bread! What better meal to end the day with?"

The others laugh at it, but i know the Capitol will love it even more. The moon begins to rise so we fill our water bottles, grab the useful supplies out of what the girl left behind (Which is only some more water purifier, apples and more gloves.

Angel takes the other gloves as we start back through the tree's she's a lot less quiter now and it takes us about 15 minutes to get back to the Cornucopia. The others appear back after another half an hour.

"We didn't find any water, but we got to the foot of the mountains. We climbed up a little and we got a better view of the Arena." Emerald says.

"There's one water source from what we saw, it was over in your direction. The Mountains are around the entire perimeter of the arena. We saw a few tributes too. None of them were on the mountains though, they were all in the tree's. They were to far away for us to kill, there nearer other end of the arena. We didn't encounter any other tributes, but we came across some weird Lizard..." Murray says gesturing Lydia's left leg.

Alexander immediatly runs over to his district partner, and looks at her leg, but Lydia grabs his arm. "It's fine," Lydia says, "I killed it."

We stay up another couple of hours, Murray say's he'll take first watch, and Alexander jons him. We all rumage through the bags that are still here and try to find enough sleeping bags for us all. Luckily, we do! We gather the rest of the bags and weapons and pile them up in the Cornucopia.

As Rest my head down to go to sleep, i see the sun finally dissappear over the horizon. I fade out into a deep sleep.


	14. The Mountain

When I wake up the sun is just appearing over the horizon. The only other ones up are Emerald and Angel, they must have swapped with Alex and Murray during the night. Lydia's - who is still asleep at the moment - leg looks swollen, not just a little swollen though, it's about twice as big as it was before. The bandage on her leg didn't do much help, overnight it has turned the crimson colour of blood.

After what I can only judge to be about half an hour or so, The rest of us are all awake. Alex and Murray were the only ones that were up long enough last night to see which of the tributes had fallen. Both from district 3, both from district 5, the girl from 7 (She's the one i recognise as the girl that tried to kill me in the cornucopia), the boy from 9, The boy from district 11 and both from 12.

Today we're hunting. We decide to do so over in the area of the lake, that way we won't run low on water, and foes will be drawn nearer there because it is the only water supply. I wonder if the tributes from 11 knew that when they were camping out there, maybe if they did know they would have been more cautious... and maybe both of them would have been alive.

We've divided up the food supplies between us all. We each have some bread, apples and berries, as well as our weapons, water and tools. Getting through all of the tree's is increasingly difficult, not because of all the branches, but because of all the wildflowers tangled around the grass. It's hard to keep balance, but i guess it will be just as hard for the other tributes too. They couldn't have gotten too far yet, but by the time we've reached the foot of the mountain range, we haven't found any.

"Should we split up again?" Angel suggests, "It'd be better to cover more ground than for us all to walk in a pack. Besides, it's not as if we can't defend ourselves on our own."

"Hmm... I can see why not," Lydia says, "We should go in pairs though, just in case. I haven't felt that good since the lizard mutt bit me..."

"Ok, pairs it is then," Murray says, "Who's going with who?"

"Well, Lydia and Flint could go up the mountain, they're the only ones with gloves," Alex suggests, "I'll go hunt around the other end of the lake with Murray. Angel and Emerald, you guys circle around the mountain edge to see if there is any caves or small crevices that they might be hiding in."

"OK, meet back at the lake by nightfall" I say, why am I so comfortable about the fact i'm hunting with someone i don't even know, who is clearly injured, even when there is other tributes or even mutts out there that might even be hunting me!?

Scaling the mountainside is much easier than climbing through the tree's, there's less sharp edges and after a while of adjusting to the rocks, it's an easy hike. We don't talk much though, and when we do, it's only about our districts, what we'd do if/when we win and what we though of the Capitol when we first arrived. She's a lot different to who i thought she was. Her and Alex aren't just district partners, they're also close relatives, cousins i think. Their families must be devestated knowing that only one of them will be coming out.

After about 15 minuites of climbing we are quite far up. I can see the cornucopia from our position, and near the lake I can see a tribute. We're too far up to make out who it is, but it's not that difficult to notice two larger tributes - most likely Alex and Murray - crashing through the foliage. I can tell by the screams that the tribute was a girl, but they are silenced when her cannon cries out into the arena.

We climb for another 10 minutes before we need to rest. The rocks are quite warm, we eat about half the food we each have and before we finish, a beeping noise catches our attention. Another parachute! It lands on the ground at Lydia's feet, invraged onto the front of the container is the number '2'. A needle lies inside of the box. It must be for when she got attacked by the lizard mutt, maybe they're more deadly than they look. She injects the needle into her arm. After about an hour, her leg is almost healed. Of course there is still a large cut running across her calf, but she seems to have stopped limping when she walks.

After another couple of hours, we've reached the top of the mountain, or at least as far as we can go. Instead of having a forcefield cover the edge of the arena, the mountains curve in slightly, making it almost impossible to climb up, even with the right equipment. We decide to circle back down the mountains, and hopefully find another enemy.

We're halfway back down the mountain when Lydia stop's me. She points to her ear, indicating for me to listen carefully. She has found something! Only when I take a few steps further down can i hear it. The short squeak from boots being dragged across the rocks, but where is it coming from? A short distance away I can see a small pile of rocks. Yes! That's it! The tribute must have tried to conceal there hiding spot in hopes that no one would find them, but they didn't do a very good job, i can see the blood stains dripping down the side of the rocks.

I draw a knife from the inside of my jacket and step over to the rocks, there is a small gap inside the rocks were I can see the cave floor. A figure moves past on the ground. That must be our target. We can't move any of the rocks, it will give away our location. From what we know at the moment, the tribute doesn't know we're here. Even if we move the rocks slightly, the whole pile may fall down into the cave, we can't risk it, he might be armed like we are. He moves past on the ground again, is he pacing? Why?

"How much water do you have left?" I hear from inside the cave.

Theres more than one of them, but how many? Two? Three? I can't risk just throwing a knife down there and hoping it hits someone, and if it does, the rest of them will find out that we're both here.

"Not much... only half a bottle, how much do you think it'll last?" A female voice comes from inside the cave.

"Nothing longer than a day. That's all we have left, plus your injured" Says the male tribute.

One of them passes under my vision, neither of them have noticed us yet. There's only two of them so we could probably take them but... how do we know that they don't have any weapons and that we won't be injured in the process.

Lydia taps me on the shoulder. I move back away from the rocks so that she can see in. That's what i think she is doing anyway, but instead she lifts up a large rock from the top of the pile. Screams echo from inside the cave before the rocks tumble in and crash onto the cave floor. A cannon sounds, and the rocks must have crushed one of the tributes.

I climb down the fallen rocks into the cave, where the male tribute is on his feet, an axe in his hand. I throw the first knife, but he blocks himself with the axe head. For someone who has only spent a couple of days in the training center as his preparation for the games, he certainly has picked up a few skills. I don't hesitate to grab two more knives from my jacket before he charges towards me.

I dive to the right, just dodging the blade of his axe and I spin around on the floor, digging my knife into his thigh. He lets out a yelp of pain, but he lands ontop of me. He rams his axe down, but i'm out of the way just in time for it to miss my head. His knee ontop of my left arm is trapping it, so with my free arm i send out a fist to his head. It knocks him off balance and a grab my knfe in time to plunge it into his chest before he can attack. As he falls back down in pain, his axe cuts open the side of my left arm. A cannon sounds and he is dead.

Searing pain shoots through the whole of my arm. I manage to flip the boy off of me but when i examine the wound a small pool of blood forms on the ground. Lydia's, who was busy gatherering enough rocks from outside of the cave to make a make-shift staircase for us to get out (which was actually a smart idea because the pile of rocks that caved in onlly filled up to about half the cave height) has just came down into the cave. She has a shocked but serious expression on her face. She takes off my jacket and rips off one of the sleeves. She ties it around my wound. She seems as if she has done this all before.

"You seem to know what your doing..." I say, hoping that she does and she is not purely winging it.

"My parents are doctors," She replies, I don't know if she is telling the truth or if she is just reassuring me, but since there isn't any other explanation i guess I have to believe her. "They taught me a bit of what they know incase I did get reaped for the games."

She ties the knots around the wound quite tight, but wat can i complain about? I don't see any blood coming through it. It's hard to move my arm around without the pain shooting through my arm, so i guess i won't be able to throw another knife for a while. I take the jacket off of the male tribute and put it into my pack. I don't need it right now, I can't tell if it is the whole arena or if it's just the mountains, but it's quite warm. It's hard to get out of the cave, but with Lydia's help I just about manage. The hike back down will be difficult, but I think it's the best thing we could do know, we can't hunt anymore, i'll slow us down.


	15. The Plan

When we reach the foot of the mountain, the sun is hidden below the mountains. The others should be making there way back to the lake too. We know that the others aren't dead, but how can we guarantee their not injured too? Is it bad that I hope someone is? Nothing too serious though, I just don't want to look weak in their eyes... And how would the Capitol see it? A poor fourteen-year-old boy just becoming a nuisance to the actual competitors in the games? Well, whether they are or if they aren't, I don't care. I'm a bit preoccupied guarding myself from other tributes at this moment... That's all important more now.

When we get back to the lake, Alex and Murray are eating the last of their food. At least I thought it was the last, but apparently the tribute they killed had some food too. Immediately they notice the wound on my arm, I try not to look so 'in pain'.

"What happened?" Murray asks in curiosity, "Did you get attacked by another tribute or something?"

"It was-", I say, my voice is cut off but Lydia.

"Another lizard." Interupts says, she sounds so calm, "He got it though, We did however find a couple of tributes. I think they were from '8' I think, a boy and a girl."

I admire how easily she played that off, she is a good liar, hopefully this would never be used to my advantage.

"Good job," Alex says, "We got a girl, I don't know what district she was from though... '6' maybe."

Emerald and Angel come through the tree's after a while, they have scratches across their arms, but nothing serious, it was most likely just the tree branches.

"There wasn't that much places up the mountains any tributes could hide in," Angel starts, "We saw a couple of caves but they were up quite high."

"Did any of you guys kill anyone?", Emerald says.

"The girl from 6 - we think - and both from 8," Says Lydia.

We decide to take a rest now while we can. Me and Lydia take the first watch. I don't mind staying up the whole night but the others insist on waking them up after a few hours. We talk a bit, but not about much, just about our families back home, but we both know that's not what we want to talk about. I wait to make sure the others are all asleep before I actually begin.

"So, why did you lie for me?" I ask, "You could've just let me tell them what happened..."

"You do realise that if they found out it was another tribute you wouldn't still be alive?" She says, I can't tell what she means though, " If they knew that you were injured because of another tribute they would have thought that you wouldn't have been able to defend yourself... that you were a worthless ally. You should be thanking me."

A worthless ally. That _is_ all I am. What do I bring to this group? Strength is covered by Alex and Murray, attacking from a range is covered by Emerald and Angel, Lydia is a good healer, and what am I? I worthless ally. As an ally I may be worthless, but maybe on my own I could be more valuable. It's a stupid thought, but maybe it could work.

"Flint?" Lydia says, confused.

The anthem plays and sure enough, the girl from 6 and both from 8 are correct. I won't leave tonight, it's too soon... Maybe tomorrow. Tomorrow night it is. At this point tomorrow i'll be gone. I'm sure of it. We sit in silence for the rest of the night.


	16. The Supplies

Today we'll get rid of all the supplies. Not all of them of course, just the weapons and tools we won't need. It was Emeralds idea, we shouldn't let our enemy's get their hands on what could be their salvation... that said, we don't have much competition other than ourselves. When we get to the cornucopia, we still don't have an idea how to get rid of the supplies. We've came up with a few idea's, but they're not very promising. One of the idea's was to dump them in the lake, but that wouldn't work because the the others would be drawn to the lake for water anyway, and if they step into it, they'll feel the supplies. Amother idea was to bury them underground, but we don't have the right tools and it would be too time consuming. Hauling the supplies and hiding them up in a high mountain cave was another idea, but we couldn't risk anyone finding them.

We spend a while trying to think of more idea's, but we don't get very far. I think the best idea we've came up with so far was to set them on fire, but if we do that we can't guarantee that thee rest of the arena won't catch on fire too. Instead, we decide to set them on fire when we've carried them up to a cave in the mountains. Although we're all strong, we're not quite strong enough to carry the entire range of weapons and supplies up to the cave in one go, so this may take a few hours. We decide to take the weapons first though. We manage to get just about all of them, minus a few darts, but they'd be useless without a blowgun anyway.

On our way up through the tree's, I carry a bag of weapons on my back. Alex leads the pack, and I'm at the back. I have to guard the back of the group, so i'm keep alternating between walking straight and walking sideways. We haven't came across anyone so far, but other tributes must be fighting, because i've heard at least two cannons already today, and i don't even think it's midday yet. The first cannon went off about 10 minutes before the other one. I'm pretty sure a few other tributes have weapons too, the screams of terror heard before each of the cannons wouldn't have been so distorted if they hadn't been attacked by another armed tribute. I didn't recognise anyone from the shouts before the first cannon, but it sounded like a male voice, so it could have been any tribute from District 6, 7 or 10. The screams of the second cannon were very familiar. It could be no other than the girl from 11, the one Angel, Alex and I spotted at the lake. I can't help but feel just a little guilty about it. If we didn't kill her partner at the lake, maybe she would still have some supplies instead of having to rush off in a hurry. She would probably been in better shape too if she had her food with her. I shake the idea out of my head though, every death leads me one step closer to the final.

It takes another hour or so by the time we've got to a decent cave. It's large enough to take all of the weapons inside, and there's still so much room left. On the way down the mountain there is a beeping sound. I look up to see the silver parachute float down over us. I cross my fingers, hoping for District 1, hoping for medicine for the wound on my left arm. I grasp the metal container in my hands, and sure enough, it's for District 1. However, when I open it, it is not what I wanted it to be. Instead, it is a spare pair of gloves. Of course, Emerald hasn't gotten any yet.

"More Gloves!" I try to sound enthusiastic about it but even I can't tell if anyone else believes me. I hand the gloves to Emerald, who slides them on immedietely. I put the empty parachute in my pack and we all continue back down. When we get back down to the cornucopia, I think I'm the only one that's noticed. The boxes of darts, though they may be useless to us, are gone. I think Murray is the next to notice, followed by Lydia and Angel.

"Who'd you think took 'em?" Murray says. By this point the rest of us have figured out what he's on about.

"The girl from 11 definetly _had_ a blowgun," Angel says, "It could have been her..."

"I doubt it," I interrupt, remembering the past events, "I think she died earlier today, I recognised her screaming before one of the cannons. It's not definate, but she's most likely dead."

"So the one with the blowgun is her assailant," Alex concludes, "Which means they either found the girl dead from starvation or thrist, or they have another weapon and used it against her..."

It comes to attention now that there are actually other competitors in the games. Not just us, who have been training our whole lives, but the tributes from the outer District's that have been 'bulking up' for a week before they actually entered the arena. I try to remember some of their faces from interviews or from the training center, but the only ones I can successfully bring to mind are the boy from ten (Who got an 8 in training, We were actually considering letting him into our pack), and the girl from nine, (Who only got a 5 as her score, but we saw her in training and she seemed to be pretty stealthy).

I try to push the fact of the danger of other competitors out of my mind as we walk up the mountains again, but I stay extra cautious just in case we encouter anyone. It takes another two trips up from the cornucopia to the mountain and back down by the time we have all the supplies in the cave. Angel looks through one of the packs near the top of the pile for a fire starting kit, and surely enough finds one. She takes out a few matches and lights them all on fire in one swipe. When she drops them onto the pile of supplies, they immediately catch on fire. The flames spread around quite easily, so we decide not to stick around. On the way back down the mountain we're encountered by another few lizards, none of us are injured because of them though. They must just be drawn to the heat of the flames.


	17. The Rain

We arrive back at the foot of the mountain, and I'm wondering If I have to leave after all. I mean, I may not bring any physical strength to the group that is lacked, but I'm definitely one of the smartest of us. I'm perceptive. When we went back down to the cornucopia to get moer supplies, _I _was the one to first notice the darts missing. I'm fast too. Some of the others are fast, but _I _must have killed at least five lizards on the mountain before they attacked me. Maybe it was a stupid idea to leave the others. Besides, were only three days into the games! From all my fourteen years of watching the games, It's always been at least a week before any of the years broke apart. I guess I can stay a few nights. I need to have a food source, I don't know hardly any of the edible plants to be able to live off of them for the remainder of the games. The only berries i've seen growing in the bushes so far are nightlock - deadly berries that, if consumed, will cause death in less than a minute. I doubt i'd be the one out of Emerald and I to get the sponsor gifts, only one of us can win.

On most of the hiking we've done so far, the main banter has been between the others. They joke around about the dead tributes and they're reactions before they died. All of them but Lydia that is. She seems to be quite too, but she joins in occasionaly. She usually silences herself when they begin to talk about the dead again. It shocks me how Emerald joins in though. Back in the Capitol, she seemed more... relaxed. She was more humane. Instead now she mocks the fallen with the others. The Capitol citizens wouldn't think any less of her if she didn't... or would they? I know they watch children die every year, but can they be so sick to laugh when they die? Do they show any respect whatsoever for us tributes?

I'm snapped back to reality when I scratch my face off of one of the thorns. It's nothing serious, its about as bad as a simple papercut, but then it begins raining. It's not raining heavily, but when the raindrops contact my cuts I wince. I feel sympathy for Emerald and Angel, who've had cuts all across their bodies since yesterday. We rush to find shelter, so we run back to the cornucopia. I don't know if it is the rain that hurts us, but we've all got cuts somewhere on us, whether it be our cheek or our arms, so it could just be the water coming into contact with our wounds.

When we reach the cornucopia, I sit in the mouth, laying against the metal sides. On the mountain side, I can clearly see the flames of the bonfire. They'll burn out in a few hours. Maybe even sooner if the rain picks up. It reminds me of how vunerable life is in the arena. Most of us will make it a few days, but if more of us go out killing we'll be done with sooner.

We sit in the cornucopia for a lot longer than expected. The rain doesn't stop for the entire time we've wanted to get out, trapping up inside. I wonder how the others are doing... With little shelter, I don't know how they can all be suffering in silence. I can guess without doubt they'll have at least one injury, whether it's from another tribute, a lizard or a thorn.

Angel tells us a game that she used to play in her District when she was a little girl to pass the time. I'm hopeful that even the most vicous of us can have a fun side, but then she explains the game. You take a knife and throw it upwards, and when it comes back down you need to catch it by the blade. She'd play it with her friends when they got back from school, and the last one to give up out of pain would win. I don't know how i'm convinced to do it, be we all end up throwing the knives up in the air. Luckily for me, i'm trained with knives more than any other weapon, so I don't injure myself. It was a stupid idea however for Angel. She couldn't have been very good at this game when she was younger because she was the only one to hurt herself badly while doing it. The knife cut her wrist straight across. It won't kill her, but it will slow her down, and maybe even effect her spear throwing. I can't help but laugh at it, it made her look so pathetic. I manage to hide my laughter before anyone notices.

The anthem begins to play and shortly after, the fallen appear in the sky. The Boy from 7 and surely enough, the girl from 11. Alex and Lydia take first watch, I stay by the mouth of the cornucopia and rest my head on my pack for a pillow. And wonder when I will leave the group. I decide that I won't sneak out tonight after all. I won't run away any time tomorrow either. I give myself another two days. I vow to myself that I must be gone within that time period. It may be risky escaping, but I have no other choice, the others will find out soon enough about how I was injured by the boy from 8. I'd be good as dead if I stayed any longer than two days. I feel certain that is what i'll do.

It takes me a while to do so, for all I know i could have been up an extra hour or two, but I eventually drift off into sleep.


	18. The Fight

I'm awaken by the sound of cannons. One of them just seconds after the other. I'm already on my feet, confused of what two do. When I turn around I see them. On the ground, two tall figures stand over them. It's too dark to make out the faces at first but then I see them. It's Murray! And Emerald too! I run towards her to see if I can help, but I'm stupid... I'm too late. When I get to her, I kneel down infront of her, the ground is wet and sticky. Blood. I see the figures above aproaching towards me slowly. Alex and Lydia. I look around and grab what I can, these two days will have to come a bit sooner than expected. I grab the shield from Emerald's side, but just as I stand I feel the flail smash against it. I manage to keep it steady, slowly inching backwards towards my pack so I can run away. I'm about halfway there, luckily Lydia is too preoccupied with Angel to attack me too. I'd think to pull out a knife and fight back, but we both know how that battle will end, so I continue edging away.

I see him reach his arm back over his head, the light of the moon shines off of his flail. I turn round, onto my feet and I begin to run. I hear the flail bury into the ground. I scoop my pack up from the ground and begin to run out into the greenery. I trip up on the wildflowers a couple of times, but I keep moving. Even stopping for a second could be my instant death. I dare to turn my head to see how far behind he is, but it was a bad mistake. He's dropped his mace back at the cornucopia, and he's coming towards me with his fists. I'm tackled to the ground before I can even turn my head back again, and I struggle on the ground, trying to escape his grasp on my left arm, right where the boy from 8 sliced it. I wince at the pain, but he knows what he's doing so he presses harder. He kneels over me, his knees on my hands, restricting them from movement. If only I can free one of my knives and stab him. I kick my knees up onto his back. I may not be stronger than him, but i've still been training for the games since I was younger, I'm strong too. I manage to catch him off balance, and he tumbles over me. I can't get to my feet quite yet, he keeps his legs buried into my arms. It was a dumb move that I will probably regret, he probably wants to make my death more painful now. When he gets back up to kit original position, he is angrier than he was before, just as I did before. He kneels vertically and cracks his knuckles before me. He won't do it quick, he wants to savour the moment. He reaches out to me, i think he's going for my neck, so I begin to struggle more. Instead he goes for my shoulders. He shakes them violently, smashing my skull off of the ground. The weeds are a mediocre cushion, but ultimately I feel pain throughout my whole head. If I don't do anything now, I'm done for. I lift my knees again and they send him off balance again. He is about to tumble over me again, which is when I vigorously struggle my arms. I manage to free my arms, before he regains his balance. I'm up on my feet i'm about to run when I realise. _If I don't get him now while he's weak, he'll come after me! _I take a knife from the inside of my jacket and I see Alex turn his head in my direction. He knows i'm armed and therefore have an advantage, but he doesn't care, he gets to his feet. When I see him running towards me again, I'm confused of what to do. I take my knife to his direction and feebly slash diagonaly downwards. I think I manage to cut him on his face, by his temple, but the blade didn't bury very far. Blood rushes down covering his face and I know this is my chance to get away, while he's wounded. But as I turn to run, his hand grips onto the collar of my jacket. In the struggle to get out of my jacket, I drop my knife. Once again, another stupid move by me. Without out my knives - which were inside my jacket - that one knife I dropped was my only weapon. My only form of defense. That's when I remember the shield. I can see it in the corner of my eye, back down where we were wrestling a matter of seconds ago. I'm brought back to the current situation when Alexander's fist makes it's way to my chest. I'm winded, struggling for air now. I can see he is now reaching into my jacket, taking a knife. I'm weak. If I don't run now I'm done for. I scoop down and run past him. I'm a few yards from the shield when i trip down over the wild flowers. If I was only lightly more forward, my head would have landed directly onto the spike. I reach forward, grabbing the shield and pulling it over me before Alex's knife hits me. It bounces off of the sheild, and he continues to run back towards me. He is about to jump down and tackle me over before he remembers the spike on the sheild, so instead he reaches out again. He grabs the sheild by the sides and yanks it from my grasp. He throws it to the side, along with his knives.

"Let's finish this how it started," Alex says, maliciously,"You OK with that?"

I don't answer, I won't give him the satisfaction. He'll do the same anyway. I manage to get to my feet before he sends his first fist, aimed for my face. I manage to duck down in time to avoid it, and I think back to the fighting when we were at the bloodbath. I send my foot out to his leg and kick him off balance again. His body is about to crash down ontop of me, so I roll out to the left. The collides down onto the floor i'm sure this is my chance. Whether this is to get him while he's down or to run away i'm not sure. He's about to get back up, so I push him back over and he falls down, hitting his head off of the ground. I'm stopping here. This is my chance to escape. I'm worsly injured than he is, so even if he is down I probably wouldn't stand a chance. I run for the only place in the arena that I know of. The Lake. I'm about halfway there to the trees when I dare to turn my head around. He's finally given up, and he's walking back over to Lydia. I can't see Angel anywhere so I assume that she must have gotten away. Just as I enter the trees I slouch down against one of them, allowing what has happened, in a matter of minutes to sink in.


	19. The Aftermath

I altenate between running and jogging until I get to the lake. It is still dark, and when I look over to the mountains I can faintly see the embers of the fire burning out. The rain has stopped but the ground is still wet. We couldn't have been asleep for anything longer than 2 hours. I reach into the pack - the only thing I managed to get away with from the fight, and I take out the rope, a water bottle, some water purifier, and the small sharpening blade. I sling the rope over my shoulder, ready for use if it is needed, and reach down to grab some water. I sit down by the lake for about 10 minutes when I hear another cannon. I'm positive it's Alex and Lydia, it must be, they are the only ones i'm sure of that are awake, and they're out hunting again. I take out another water bottle from my backpack and fill it up too, then I continue to run out into the trees. I think of going to the mountain, but that wouldn't give me much concealment. I need to stay in the forest. I still have some food, a bag of sliced apples and about half of the bread I was original given before we went up the mountain a few days ago, but it won't last very long. I pick out a tree branch, about half the size of me, and with the small blade I have I cut off the throns. When I've done I sharpen one end of it. It doesn't take long until I have created myself a make-shift spear. It'll take some getting used to, I wasn't very good at spear throwing back in the training centers back home.

I walk until I finally see the sun appear over the mountainside. It's been about three days, wait, no four days I think. It's hard to keep track of time, but in the however-many days we've been in the arena there must have been about Seventeen deaths already. Theres only seven of us left. How quick it has gone... it's difficult to think that in a matter of days, maybe even hours, only one of us will be alive. And I'm determined that it will be me.

I take of the bandage/sleeve from my arm, to see the damage that Alex has just caused it, but when I take it off, I can see it's starting to bleed again. Theres a large blue bruise around the area, and I know if I don't get medicine for it in time i'll be a goner. I try to replicate the knot that Lydia had tied before, and I think it's okay, it's not as tight as before but I can work with it. The blood doesn't escape through it, that's all I can really do for now.

I find a tree and initially think it's just like the others, but then I think it could be useful. It's just as tall as the other trees, and its well concealed. This is where I will be staying. When I climb up the tree, I find a spot that has a fork shape in it, and with the blade tool, I cut away all of the thorns. Its not to far away from the lake. Its about 100-200 yards away, and when I stand up on the branches, I can see pretty much all the way around the perimeter of lake, so I'll be able to check if it is safe to get water.

I brake off a few of the higher branches with more leaves on them, and assemble them below my area, just in case any tribute walking below see's me. I stand up again, just to see if there are any tributes that I can see, and I am surprised at what I come across. Up at the mountain by one of the caves - the one with the burnt down supplies in it - are two tributes. At first look I think they are allies, but then I see them on the rocks, their weapons clashing together. One of them looks a lot bigger than the other, but it couldn't be Alex because he would be with Lydia, besides alex has blond hair. No, this tribute could be no other than the boy from 10, the one that the other careers wanted to become a member in our pack. I see the other tribute, who is a lot smaller and skinnier, and I think it's the girl from District 9, the athletic girl we saw in the training center. A cannon sounds in a matter of seconds and I see the boy standing up triumphantly. I try to get a better look at his weapon, but I can't really see them very well. I'm pretty sure there isn't a blowgun in his hands, so he can't be the only other fighting tribute out there I don't know about. He tosses whatever weapon he had aside and begins to dig through the pile. We probably should have checked to see if the weapons at the bottom of the pile had burned as well as the other supplies on top, because when the boy finally stops looking through the pile, the weapon in his hands is unmistakable. He has gotten himself a sword because of our foolishness. But at least I know one thing now, I have a chance of gaining some knives back instead of having to use this wooden spear.

That's were i'll be going tomorrow, but for now I need to survive the rest of today. I sit in the tree for a few hours. I try to sleep but I can't. I'm too paranoid that i'll be found. I rest against the tree, and tie myself onto the branch with the rope. I keep taking small sips of water and bites from the bread. The only think that let's me know that when I fall asleep nothing will happen to me is that the Capitol have been entertained enough. Four people have already died today.


	20. The Assailant

When I wake up, I think the sun is rising. I must have slept for... 12 more hours? I wish I had a clock or something, not knowing the time is making me feel so... unprepared. I listen to the bird singing in the trees, but then I realise something fatal. Birds? I can't remember seeing any birds in here yet... Infact, I can't see any bird either. I grab my pack and begin to untie myself from the branches incase a flock of bird muttations decides to sweep the arena... Jabberjays maybe, or even worse... I've seen arenas before now which used bird mutts to force all of the tributes together, they could do it now too. The tune changes into what sounds like singing. No, not bird singing, human singing. When I look down from the tree, I see her. Angel. She's walking below the branches, water bottle in one hand and a spear in the other. I don't think she see's me, because she slouches down against the tree trunk.

I continue to untie the rope, and I shove it in my bag as fast as I can, and as quiet as I can too. She must have noticed, because she occasionaly looks around every few seconds. Just as I am about to close my pack, I have an idea. I see the sunrays shine off of the silver parachute. The one I had in my pack from when we were on the mountain burning the supplies. The one that had gloves in it for Emerald. I take out the sharpening tool and the parachute and begin to engrave over the number one. Instead now, it reads '4'. It doesn't look very 'neat' at all, the lines are all slanted and narrow, but it's worth a try. I look around the tree's for the one thing I can trick Angel into eating. Poison. I can see some berries about 10 feet away. Whether they are poisonous or not I don't know by it's worth a try.

I stand up in the tree, holding onto a long branch above my head. I sidestep out over a branch, hoping i'm not heavy enough for the branches to snap. When I get over to the berries, I cut off a few handfuls of them and a couple of leaves too. I place them into the parachute. When I drop the parachute down, I just hope she doesn't see there is no beeping noise along with it. I cling to the tree trunk hoping to be hidden from the branches and leaves. The parachute catches onto a branche inches infront of Angel's face, and she seems to have stopped singing. I can hear the container open up with a click, and I look down to see her picking up the berries. She looks at them strangely, but since it's a 'sponsor' gift, she decides it's no harm and I see her eat the first berry. Another one of us tributes will be dead in a matter of seconds. I feel myself relax as I begin to make my way back to the fork in the trees, which is when Angel jumps up, spear in hand again. She knows I'm here, and I don't think the berries were poisonous after all. When she throws the first spear, I dodge it just in time, but i'm lose my balance on the branches and begin to fall. I catch onto the branch with my hands, locking them together and hoping that was her only spear. I cling to the branch, eyes closed and my grip tightening, knowing it is the only thing I can do. Only fate can save me now.

I hear a loud bawl from below, and only hope that Angel had been attacked by a mutt. I won't be able to handle another tribute now. If they find me in this state - especially if they are armed - I'm done for. I hear a cannon sound boom through the arena, which is the only point I allow myself to open my eyes. I can't see down to where Angel's body is, and her assailant, so I hoist myself up onto the branch to get a better look. I see no one there. Not a single being. Either they're waiting for me to come down for them to attack, or they've moved on, not knowing that I'm here. I manage to edge over to the fork in the branches, where I grab my backpack and also my 'spear'. I lower myself down through the branches, holding the spear in my mouth to allow myself the grip of both of my hands. I jump down from one of the lower branches and take the spear in both hands, the pointed edge on my left. I walk out into the space, and look around for Angel's assailent. I can here branches rustling, a lot louder than just the natural breeze, I just can't see where. I glance over to Angel's corpse trying to determine what the cause of her death was. Which is when I see it in the back of her neck. A Poisoned dart.

I take it out of her neck, and blood spills out of the piercing. Of course, soon I will see who stole the darts from the cornucopia, the one who killed the girl from 11, as well as many other possible tributes. And now me! I'll be they're next target! I'm about to run out into the foliage when I hear the voice. A familiar voice. I hadn't seen him since the bloodbath. When I turn back around I see him there too. The boy from 6.


	21. The Announcement

"I thought you said you wern't allied with the careers," The boy says, "What made you change your mind?"

I stay silent for a moment, trying to work out what to say because i'm pretty sure he'd be able to take me down if we ended up fighting. I know he knows that I lied, but I guess I could at least play this up for the Capitol, if they can see me as a funny, sarcastic tribute then I might get more sponsors... It may be a bit too late for that know though.

"Well, I just thought that it was a bit, loud," I say, and remembering what happened at the cornucopia, I teasingly add on, "By the way, how's your arm?"

"Not bad actually, see," He says, pulling up his sleeve up to 'show me how well it recovered', but really he is flexing his muscles so the Capitol can admire them, "And what happened to you?"

I look to my own arm and I realise I have nothing to say back. I might as well get this over with. I spin the spear around in my hand so the tip is facing outwards, then I launch it out in his direction. I can tell by his expression that he wasn't expecting it, he stumbles a bit to the right and then trips over and lands on a bed of flowers. "You know, I wasn't actually expecting you to fight. Actually I was thinking quite the opposite," He says. I don't understand what he's implying, but I let him continue anyway, "Trust in these games is sometimes fatal, but I guess I have no other decision. You've seen the others that are still in this arena. The Alexander and Lydia from District 2, Abel too," I think he can see my confusion when he continues, "...Thats the boys from 10's name, Abel. And then there's...", he looks at Angel on the ground. "Actually I think that just leaves me and you..."

He's right. We're all there is left. 5 of us. Alex, Lydia, Abel, Him and I. Actually I never actually found out his name. "What's your name?" I say, he looks a little shocked as if I might be taking him up on his offer.

"Zephyr," He says, "So, allies?"

I think about the positives and negatives of the situation. Positive: I will have a new team member to help me survive. Negative: That same 'team member' could end up backstabbing me - Literally. I guess I have no other choice really. I have other problems to think about. There's no doubt that any of the tributes left are weak. Taking on any of them on my own won't turn out well for me, but maybe with a bit of help i'll be able to take everyone down.

"Allies." I repeat in agreement.

He laughs a little as if in relief, and I help him up from the ground. He brushes himself off and I grab my spear again. "So where do we go from here?" he asks.

"We need weapons. I pretty sure you saw us burn them down a couple of days ago, but they're not actually burnt... They we're supposed to be, but apparently the Capitol doesn't wan't them weapons rid of so easily. Abel's got a swords now, I saw him get it yesterday. I'm positive there'll be more," I say, "But if we do go we'll have to be fast, theres not much concealment."

"It won't matter then anyway," He replies confidently, "There's two of us now!"

Teaming with Zephyr proves to be a great idea. There's not as much pressure and i'm already more hopeful for the end. I really feel bad aout what I did to him at the cornucopia, he seems to be a really nice person. We walk until we get to the foot of the mountain, and we circle around the edge until we are directly beneath the cave. It's about half way up so it will take a while to get too, I just hope Alex and Lydia are nowhere to be seen.

"Ready?" I say, "On three?"

"Right," He replies, "1... 2..."

"3!" I shout, running inhead of him. It doesn't take him long to catch up and overtake me though. I'm not surprised when I remember his speed at the reaping. We run up the mountain, and it takes a while to adjust to the rocky terrain again. I get used to it after a few minutes, and Zephyr must be running out of breath because soon enough I catch up to him. We decide to slow down a little, but we don't dare stop running, so we jog for the rest of the distance. What happens next is unexpected, nothing like this has ever happened in the arena before. I crash down forwards, as well as Zephyr, who falls to his left. The ground is tremoring, as if there is a small earthquake. I grip onto the rocks above me so that I won't fall any further.

"What's happening!?" He shouts, "Are you OK!?"

"It must be the gamemakers!" I respond, "What else could be happening?"

"I- Um..." He stutters, "Look out!"

I don't know what he means, but i don't dare question him. I scale over in his direction, and I'm right to aswell, because as soon as I move a large boulder crashes down where I once was, smashing the wooden spear that I had left behind.

"T-Thanks!" I say, "No turning back now though, we're only a short distance away from the cave!"

I don't think he can here what i'm saying at first over the ruckus, so I shout it again. He still can't hear, I can't even hear myself over the noise. I point up towards the cave and he nods. I begin to climb up again, dodging the rocks that fall down. When we reach the cave, I dive into the gap, hoping the small cave ceiling will work as a sheild for any falling rubble. Zephyr reaches it too moments after I do, and we decide to look through the cave while we can. I dig through the rucksacks and supplies until I can find the only thing that I have been trained to use best. A knife. Zephyr takes a spear and gets rid of his blowgun and darts, but I can't find a single knife anywhere. Zephyr starts looking for one too, but neither of us can. The tremors stop after a while, which makes it a lot easier for us to look through the supplies. Still no knives. The only knives in the whole arena are in my jacket. Which is down by the cornucopia. With Alex and Lydia. Ultimately, I know it's no use, so instead I take a hatchet. I wasn't the best at using them when we were back in the training center or even the academy back in District 1, but it is all I can work with.

"We can go down and get your old knives back," Zephyr says, "Tonight maybe, we'll catch 'em off guard."

I'm about to agree when something chimes into the arena. The announcer. And 'luckily' for us all he's decided to invite us all to a sweet little banquet down at the cornucopia. Tonight. Literally a feast. I hadn't noticed before because I was too preoccupied with the arena and getting the weapons, but I'm starving. I have barely any food left, only a few scraps.

"How much food have you got?" I ask Zephyr.

"None," He replies, "The girl from 11 who I killed didn't have any. Neither did the boy from 7. I've got by the past few days from the food I got from the cornucopia, which was only a bag of strawberries."

The announcer's voice continues, "At Midnight Tonight, In 10 hours, A Table of delicious Capitol goods will appear infront of the cornucopia. All are welcome, but don't forget your invitations!"

Parachutes float down into the arena. I can see all five of them. Besides the two that float down above us, two float down on the opposite side of the arena - Alex and Lydia's, and one comes down by the lake - Abel's parachute. We catch the parachutes that come down above us, and open them together. Inside is a small slip of paper with 'D1' handwritten in the top right corner in caligraphy. It reads, 'You are cordially invited to a late night banquet at the cornucopia'. Its pretty cheesy, but I guess the capitol will enjoy it.

The announcer continues, "Don't forget now, and don't be late!" The same chime that introduced his message signs him off. Me and Zephyr stare at eachother in disbelief for a second. Theres only 5 of us left. By the end of the day there may only be 1.


	22. The Feast

It has been dark for a few hours, and the moon is almost central in the sky. We wait by the cornucopia, on guard for any predators. I'm not as confident about the feast as I would have been if I had at least one knife, but I guess I can't chicken out now, especially with a partner that is relying on me as much as I am. Across the clearing, behind the cornucopia, in the tree's, I can occasionaly see the moon reflecting off of a shiny object. It's either Abel's sword (which I doubt, because he was nowhere near there when the parachutes came down), or Alex has ditched the flail and is using the knives. _My_ knives. Even if I don't manage to get as much food as I want tonight, I hope to at least get my hands on them.

We plan on running out to the cornucopia as soon as the table begins to appear infront of it, we're not going to waste any time. We wait a while and still nothing happens. "Do you think we got the time mixed up?" I say, "Maybe it was actually tomorrow night and we just misheard..."

"I don't think so," Zephyr says, and he points to the opposite side of the clearing, "Lydia is over there giving us all a not so friendly smile."

I shrug and we wait for a while longer. If it gets any darker I doubt I'll even be able to see the cornucopia, let alone be able to run towards it. We're about to circle around the cornucopia to see if we hunt anyone down before the feast begins, but then a four-note chime sounds through the arena. The feast will begin in moments. I stand there, ready to dash with a hatchet in my left hand. As soon as the chime ends, a circular table covered in a pure white tablecloth rises into the arena, along with five identical chairs. I don't even need to look at Zephyr to check we're both ready to go before we sprint out into the clearing at full speed. As soon as we reach the table, we begin to grab as much food as we can. The gamemakers are really overdoing this 'feast' idea, besides the invitations we've already recieved, they've put down plates on the table, forks and butterknives, and even a napkin besides each plate - marked with _D1, D2, D2, D6 _and_ D10 _for our districts.

I take a whole groosling, some bread and some berries, and as I'm shoving them into my backpack I see Abel reaching the table. I duck to dodge the blade of his sword, which ends up lodging into one of the chairs. I stand up, readying my hatchet, and swing it towards his head. He jumps back just in time, putting his sword back with him. He is coming at me again within a matter of seconds, lunging his sword to my heart. I turn in time for him to trip forward and miss me, but he refuses to fall down. As he moves forward still, I swing the hatchet to slice him along his back, but he ends up moving to fast for me and dodges it. He turns around again, and begins to swing his sword up, if I don't think fast it will collide with my head. In one smooth motion, I lean back, avoiding the blade of the sword. When it passes literally centimeters infront of my eyes, I swing my hatchet around to meet his skull. He's fast too though and he steps back out of the way. Luckily for me, the hatchet isn't too heavy so it doesn't send me off balance. But he kicks his boot up when he steps back forward, which collides right into the center of my chest, taking the air out of my lungs. I lay on the floor for a second trying to regain my breath, but I know if I take any longer I'd get a blade through the heart. I roll over to the left, and I see Abel's sword pierce into the ground where my skull was. I get to my feet just in time, because he is running at me, his sword in the air in his right hand. I grab his arm with my left hand swing at him with my hatchet. He catches my arm before the blade ram's him, and for a minute we each struggle in each others grasps. I lean back for a second, and I think he thinks I'm trying to struggle away from him. I can tell by the smirk on his face. Really though, I headbutt him right in the nose, which makes blood spurt out of his nostrils. He drops the sword and he lets go off my arm on impact, but I don't let go of his. He spins around and lands on the ground. Now's my chance to finish him off. I raise my hatchet up into the air and luckily for him, I'll make it quick. I sent down the blade once, and his head moves to the left. I send down the blade again, and his head moves to the right. "Arrraghh!" He lets out a shout in pain, I notice that the blade had cut off his left ear on the second swing. He crawls backwards on his right shoulder, his left hand holding what once was his ear. I toss away the hatchet, grabbing the sword. I'm more used to using these considering they are basically a larger version of the knife. I put my right foot onto his chest, pinning him down. I put the tip of my sword into the ground next to his neck. He doesn't try to resist, he knows it's his end. I kneel down on my left knee, and grip the tip of the sword with the left hand and the handle of the sword with my right hand. I can see the first tear drip down his face and I can't help but feel sorry for him. I'll put him out of his misery, I just hope his family isn't watching. I chop the sword down, with slices his neck like a guillotine, beheading him. He doesn't make a sound when it happens, but I can see he is in pain by his face. A cannon sounds immediately.

I turn around to grab my pack that I had dropped and put in even more food so that I can run, but then I realise I'm in a team. On the opposite side of the table I can see Zephyr on the ground. He's still alive, because a cannon hasn't went off yet, but it may not be for long. Alex is pinning down his shoulders with his hands and Lydia walks over him with her claws ready. We're the only four left. Their's only a few things that can happen now. Either Zephyr will make a miraculous recovery and we take down both Alex and Lydia, which then will lead to me an him fighting and one of us becoming a victor - which at this point seems highly unlikely. Or maybe even I choose to help Zephyr now and attempt to take down Alex and Lydia myself - which will result in what will most probably be my death. I have one more option. Take my stuff now, and run away into the greenery. I'll escape completely unharmed and with all the things I came here for. Zephyr will be killed, leaving only me and the two from District 2. The gamemakers will come up with an idea to lead us all together, an earthquake maybe, or even a mass of lizards will lead us together. Hopefully something that can kill one of the others. And then i'll only have to take down one of them if i'm still alive.

This is the safest option, and I don't really feel like fighting anymore. Not just today, but forever. I dart out into the tree's and I only look back when I get to them. They're not chasing me, they're too occupied already. He must be putting up a good fight. He might have been able to have survived. But I left him, which is almost as bad as killing him myself. I run for what feels like another five minutes before I hear a cannon. It could be no other than his.

There's three of us left now. The games will be over soon. All I can do for now is hope I'll last the night. I walk for a while until I find the lake, and I refill my water bottles. I keep walking from there until the tree I had made camp in comes into sight. I climb the tree, and I tie myself in with the rope. I sleep with my sword in hand, in case of any pursuers. I'm about to fall asleep when the anthem sounds through the arena. After it, we see the faces of the fallen. Zephyr and Abel. The anthem sounds and the music fades away. I fade out too, into a troubled sleep.


	23. The Cause

I don't know how, or even where this game will end, but i'm sure it will be soon. I'm no longer hungry, I've ate half of the chicken, as well as some bread. I don't need to ration any of it, I've got nothing to lose. I'm debating whether or not to leave the tree and travel around, making it harder for me to find. They'll know I'll be near the lake, or else I'll die of dehydration. I guess I can always walk around near to the lake, so that it'd be easier to escape them if they find me, and I'll still be near a water source. I could always go up to the cave and grab that blowgun so I can ambush them both, but that would be too risky. It maybe be a bad idea now, but I don't think anything could get any better anyway; I decide to flip a coin (however, with the absense of a coin i'm using whatever I could find - a water bottle cap). I can't just sit back in the tree and do nothing, i'll die of boredom (if that's even possible). If the cap lands face up, I'll walk around the lake for a while. If it lands face down, i'll go to the cave. I flip it once, and I catch it so that it doesn't fall down. I open out my palm to see the result, and I'm going to the cave.

I untie myself from the tree, and sling the rope over my shoulder. I have everything ready incase I am actually being hunted. My rope (I guess I might be being too childish just trying to proove the gamemakers wrong), My sword and well, that's it really. I wish the cave was on the other side of the arena, away from the lake. Then I wouldn't be as nervous. I walk until I get to the edge of the forest, where the mountains start, and I haven't encountered the others yet. Maybe they aren't hunting me after all. Maybe they are waiting for the gamemakers to bring us together like I thought. I decide to try the same strategy that I used when climbing the moutain with Zephyr - run as fast as I can, and don't look back until I get there. I run with my sword in my left arm, and use my right arm occasionally to shove the rope back up my arm when it falls. Everytime I go up this mountain, is feels like it is longer. I guess I misjudge how tall they actually are every time. It feels warmer as well. When I touch it with my bare skin I can feel it's heat. I try to push the thoughts of what the gamemakers are preparing to the back of my mind. Maybe going up this mountain to the cave was a bad idea after all. If whatever I think is going to happen, infact happens, I'll be in a lot of danger.

I reach the boulder that almost ended me after a while of walking, so I know I must be close. I can't see the cave anywhere though. Just the same rocky slope covered in the occasional boulder. I walk around the area to see If I can find anything unusual that may hint to where the cave would be. Maybe a box of darts of a small bag, anything really, but I find one thing I didn't want to find. At least I know where the cave is now. After walking all the way up the mountain, I come to see a blowgun, snapped in half. Not by a tribute, by rocks. I gamemakers must have been planning to kill at least someone when the fissures started. They released a boulder to block off the cave, but Zephyr and I must have escaped just in time. I didn't even hear a thoud or anything. One of the gamemakers must have been assassinated because they failed to take care of us. I don't care, it's their fault.

I try to move the boulder so I can get into the cave, but it's useless. I'd need another person, maybe even two if I wanted to move it. It won't even budge with just me. I feel sick to my stomach now. To have wasted my time climbing a mountain, endangering myself, letting everyone else know my position. They're probably up on their feet coming to me right at this moment. I am pretty much doomed. At least It won't take as long for me to run down the mountain as it did on the way up. I begin to go back down, being even more cautious than I was before about any rivals. It's almost dark again by the time I am at the bottom of the mountain it is almost dark again. I feel as if the days are getting shorter. The gamemakers must be in a hurry to end this thing. Well, might as well play along before we're all forced together. If I'm going out now, I'm going out with a fight. Hopefully I can kill at least one of them. I doubt I will be able to kill both of them. I'm not equal to or stronger than either of them. Plus they're teamed, and if I can barely take just one of them down, I doubt I'll be able to take them both down. If it comes down to just them two, I doubt they would fight. They're supposedly cousins, so I bet one of them will bow out. I bet it will be Alexander out of both of them, no matter how deadly and vicious he may be, I doubt anyone could kill they're own family out of choice. That's why I'm going to try take down Lydia if I can. Sure, Alexander will still be alive, but she won't and I'm sure they're quite close. Besides, I bet I couldn't even kill Alex if I tried. I might be able to if I had my knives. I could throw them at him from a distance. If only a sword wasn't as heavy, I'd be able to throw it so much easier. But then I guess I'd be defensless.

I didn't realise how far I had been walking, because I'm already at the tree again. I can hear talking. No doubt about who it is, there are only two other people here. They seems to be laughing a bit and just talking normally. I can't make out what they are saying though, I'm too far away to hear them properly. I take it that they are by the lake, where else would one wait for someone to come across them other than the only water source in the arena. I get to the lake, and they are sitting by the water. Lydia seems so much more relaxed, she is laying down. It looks like she is sunbathing. Alex however looks quite tense. He is sitting up, holding his legs loosely in his arms. Lydia still has her tiger claws on her hands, and Alex has one knife in his hand, the other next to him.

This is my chance to attack, while Lydia is down. I'll swing my sword at her before she can barely react. I hold my sword up, the blade in line before my face. I lean against one of the tree's at the edge of the clearing, neither of them have noticed my yet. This is it. This could be my end. I jump out and send my sword down to Lydia's heart. Unfortunately, she is too quick for me, and I miss where I was aiming for. I still cut her though, she has a painful wound deep into her left arm. Alex is up now too, and he has a knife pointed at me. He dives towards me, and I fall out of the way. I didn't even mean to fall, I just... did. Infact, we all did. It takes me a second to realize the treamors are back. And not just that. I see Lydia's eyes widen as we all freeze in fear. We don't attack each other though, we're all to busy noticing the lava spewing out of the mountains tops.


End file.
